Lady Tigers earn win over Whiteoak
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MOWRYSTOWN — Getting back on track after a brief setback, the McClain Lady Tigers gained their seventh win of the season on Monday night, defeating the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats, 85-32 in non-conference play.
In all for the Lady Tigers, they had five players reach double-figure scoring, with Taylor Polley leading all scorers with 17 points, eight steals and five assists. Right behind Polley in the scoring column were Lexie Barton with 14 points, Malea Montavon with 13 points and both Kelli Uhrig and Bryn Karnes each finished with 10 points.
The game between the two Highland County counterparts began with McClain dominating from the very start, using their defensive pressure to force turnovers, and those turnovers turned into points. In fact, the Lady Tigers (7-7) scored the first nine points of the game, beginning the scoring with points in the paint, followed by a free throw conversion by Polley.
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From there, the Lady Tigers went ahead by a 5-0 score with a layup by Barton, forcing WHS to call a timeout at the 6:21 mark of the first quarter. Following the timeout, Barton was still aggressive, scoring the next four points, including making two free throws for the 9-0 advantage with 5:46 left in the first frame.
WHS (2-12) scored their first points with a layup by Chelsea Chisman at the 5:37 mark, but McClain was too much for the Lady ’Cats to contain, with Polley scoring the next four points of the game off fast break chances, including one with an assist by Barton and the points that made it a 15-2 lead off a steal, forcing the Lady ’Cats to burn a second timeout in the first quarter with 4:02 on the clock.
Around 30 seconds following the timeout, Montavon scored two points off a layup, with Polley being credited for a steal and assist on the play. Chisman scored what were the two final points of the first frame for WHS with consecutive free throw makes at the 3:19 mark of the quarter for a 17-4 score. Chisman led the Lady ’Cats with eight points.
The Lady Tigers ended the opening quarter with a 10-0 run, as Montavon added two points off a layup with the assist and steal by Barton. Those points were followed by a jumper by Polley, a steal and fast break layup by Maddy Stegbauer, and in the final 10 seconds, a layup by Stegbauer and two points from Polley for what turned into a 23-point lead at 27-4. Stegbauer finished the game with eight points.
“Our pressure bothered them, and we’ve been struggling around the baskets,” McClain head coach Jarrod Haines said. “Coming out, our pressure helped us out a lot. Just looking at layups and finishing inside got us in a flow. We played a lot better as a team — offensively and defensively — and obviously it was good to see Taylor get going and Malea as well.
“Lexie stepped up and had a huge night for us. Right off the bat, she was our aggressor early. You can go right down the roster and talk about everyone, and it was nice to see at the end kids like Bryn Karnes and Kelli Uhrig step up and take control. It was nice to get everybody in and see everybody work extremely hard.”
By the time halftime arrived, the Lady Tigers built a 46-19 lead. The second frame included points from Montavon, Polley, Uhrig, Barton, Karnes and Makenzie Montavon. Those players combined for 19 points in the quarter, including a 3-pointer by Barton at the 7:05 mark for a 30-6 advantage.
In the second, WHS added 15 points to the home side of the scoreboard with Morgan Thompson sinking two 3-pointers in the quarter, while Kattie Taylor, Megan Botts, Chisman and Cylee Bratton all contributed points in the second.
MHS outscored WHS, 25-5 in the third frame and 14-8 in the fourth quarter to end the game. McClain had a 3-pointer from Beth Montgomery at the 4:13 mark of the third, as she finished the game with seven points. Also in the third, Uhrig sank a 3-pointer with .49 seconds left in on the clock, increasing the Lady Tigers’ lead to 48 points. Also adding points for MHS in the third were Stegbauer, Malea Montavon, Polley, Barton and Makenzie Montavon.
The 14-point McClain fourth quarter had two points from Macie Adams, four points by Uhrig and eight points off baskets from Karnes, including a 3-pointer with 46.4 seconds remaining in regulation.
WHS had second-half scoring from Maggie Carr, Botts, Chisman, Maddison Berkley and Bratton, who knocked down a 3-pointer with 33 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
From the free-throw line for the game, the Lady Tigers were 15-of-30, while WHS finished 11-of-21.
In JV play, McClain won 39-26. For MHS they were led by Madison Noel with eight points and Cierra Bolender with seven points. WHS was led by Kensley Bailey and Maddison Berkley with eight points each.
Next for McClain is an SCOL game at home vs. Washington on Wednesday, Jan. 18. The Lady ’Cats play again on Thursday, Jan. 19 at Ripley in a SHAC contest.
In all for the Lady Tigers, they had five players reach double-figure scoring, with Taylor Polley leading all scorers with 17 points, eight steals and five assists. Right behind Polley in the scoring column were Lexie Barton with 14 points, Malea Montavon with 13 points and both Kelli Uhrig and Bryn Karnes each finished with 10 points.
The game between the two Highland County counterparts began with McClain dominating from the very start, using their defensive pressure to force turnovers, and those turnovers turned into points. In fact, the Lady Tigers (7-7) scored the first nine points of the game, beginning the scoring with points in the paint, followed by a free throw conversion by Polley.
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From there, the Lady Tigers went ahead by a 5-0 score with a layup by Barton, forcing WHS to call a timeout at the 6:21 mark of the first quarter. Following the timeout, Barton was still aggressive, scoring the next four points, including making two free throws for the 9-0 advantage with 5:46 left in the first frame.
WHS (2-12) scored their first points with a layup by Chelsea Chisman at the 5:37 mark, but McClain was too much for the Lady ’Cats to contain, with Polley scoring the next four points of the game off fast break chances, including one with an assist by Barton and the points that made it a 15-2 lead off a steal, forcing the Lady ’Cats to burn a second timeout in the first quarter with 4:02 on the clock.
Around 30 seconds following the timeout, Montavon scored two points off a layup, with Polley being credited for a steal and assist on the play. Chisman scored what were the two final points of the first frame for WHS with consecutive free throw makes at the 3:19 mark of the quarter for a 17-4 score. Chisman led the Lady ’Cats with eight points.
The Lady Tigers ended the opening quarter with a 10-0 run, as Montavon added two points off a layup with the assist and steal by Barton. Those points were followed by a jumper by Polley, a steal and fast break layup by Maddy Stegbauer, and in the final 10 seconds, a layup by Stegbauer and two points from Polley for what turned into a 23-point lead at 27-4. Stegbauer finished the game with eight points.
“Our pressure bothered them, and we’ve been struggling around the baskets,” McClain head coach Jarrod Haines said. “Coming out, our pressure helped us out a lot. Just looking at layups and finishing inside got us in a flow. We played a lot better as a team — offensively and defensively — and obviously it was good to see Taylor get going and Malea as well.
“Lexie stepped up and had a huge night for us. Right off the bat, she was our aggressor early. You can go right down the roster and talk about everyone, and it was nice to see at the end kids like Bryn Karnes and Kelli Uhrig step up and take control. It was nice to get everybody in and see everybody work extremely hard.”
By the time halftime arrived, the Lady Tigers built a 46-19 lead. The second frame included points from Montavon, Polley, Uhrig, Barton, Karnes and Makenzie Montavon. Those players combined for 19 points in the quarter, including a 3-pointer by Barton at the 7:05 mark for a 30-6 advantage.
In the second, WHS added 15 points to the home side of the scoreboard with Morgan Thompson sinking two 3-pointers in the quarter, while Kattie Taylor, Megan Botts, Chisman and Cylee Bratton all contributed points in the second.
MHS outscored WHS, 25-5 in the third frame and 14-8 in the fourth quarter to end the game. McClain had a 3-pointer from Beth Montgomery at the 4:13 mark of the third, as she finished the game with seven points. Also in the third, Uhrig sank a 3-pointer with .49 seconds left in on the clock, increasing the Lady Tigers’ lead to 48 points. Also adding points for MHS in the third were Stegbauer, Malea Montavon, Polley, Barton and Makenzie Montavon.
The 14-point McClain fourth quarter had two points from Macie Adams, four points by Uhrig and eight points off baskets from Karnes, including a 3-pointer with 46.4 seconds remaining in regulation.
WHS had second-half scoring from Maggie Carr, Botts, Chisman, Maddison Berkley and Bratton, who knocked down a 3-pointer with 33 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
From the free-throw line for the game, the Lady Tigers were 15-of-30, while WHS finished 11-of-21.
In JV play, McClain won 39-26. For MHS they were led by Madison Noel with eight points and Cierra Bolender with seven points. WHS was led by Kensley Bailey and Maddison Berkley with eight points each.
Next for McClain is an SCOL game at home vs. Washington on Wednesday, Jan. 18. The Lady ’Cats play again on Thursday, Jan. 19 at Ripley in a SHAC contest.